Agenda, decisions and minutes

CouncilWednesday, 13th December, 2017 4.00 pm

With effect from 1 April 2016 Agenda and Minutes will be available
in both Welsh and English. Reports are working documents and
produced in English only in accordance with Welsh Language Standard
41 of this Council’s Final Compliance Notice from the Welsh
Language Commissioner.

The Mayor asked all those
present to join him in observing a minutes silence as a mark of respect for the
family of Carl Sargeant AM, following his recent death.

The Mayor advised that he
had recently attended the Annual Remembrance Service and the Armistice Day two
minutes silence held in Wrexham.He
stated that both events were extremely well attended and he had been proud to
represent the County Borough at these poignant events.

The Mayor thanked his
fellow Councillors for supporting his recent charity dinner dance and advised
that the evening had been a great success raising more than £3,000 for his
charity fund.

Following his attendance at
the Victorian Christmas market the Mayor took the opportunity to thank the town
centre evens team for the hard work they had put into arranging this wonderful
festive event.

On behalf of the Council
the Mayor thanked staff in the Environment Department who had worked tirelessly
during the last few days to deal with the extreme weather conditions and keep
main routes clear.He also thanked all
other Council Departments for their efforts during this recent cold spell.

The Mayor wished Members
and staff well over the festive period and also a happy and healthy 2018.

Finally, the Mayor advised
that Agenda Item 11 was being withdrawn as the Appointments Committee
were not in a position to report to this meeting.

33.

Declarations of personal interests, if any

Members are reminded of their
responsibility, under Paragraph 11 of the Members’ Code of Conduct, to declare
the existence and nature of any personal interest in respect of any of the
business to be transacted at this meeting

To consider any issues raised by Members arising from the Minutes of the
Executive Board, Scrutiny Committees and other Committees, together with any
questions raised under Standing Order 9 of the Council’s Standing Orders.For Members’ assistance, attached is a list
of the various meetings that have taken place since the last ordinary meeting
of the Council for which Minutes have been approved and published on the
Authority’s website.Copies can be
obtained, if required, via the Committee and Member Services Section.

Members considered a Notice
of Motion in the following terms proposed by Councillor Dana Davies and
seconded by Councillor Derek Wright:

“The Council:

(i)Call immediately
on the WLGA/LGA to make urgent representations to the UK Government to fund the
NJC claim and the pay spine review, reporting progress via WCBC’s Joint
Consultative Committee.

(ii)Write to the
Prime Minister and Chancellor supporting the NJC pay claim and seeking
additional UK Government funding to fund a decent pay rise and the pay spine
review ”

The Leader advised that he
agreed with the sentiment behind the motion and proposed an amendment, which
was seconded by the Deputy Leader, in the following terms:

“The Council:

(i)Call immediately
on the WLGA/LGA to make urgent representations to UK Government to fund any
agreed NJC pay settlement for the period 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2020.

(ii)Write to the
Prime Minister and Chancellor seeking additional UK Government funding to fund
such pay settlement”

Following an update by the
Head of Finance on the current situation with regards to pay negotiations, the
original motion was withdrawn. Members proceeded to vote on the
amendment, which became the substantive motion, and this was duly carried.

RESOLVED: That Council

(i)Call immediately on the WLGA/LGA to make urgent
representations to UK Government to fund any agreed NJC pay settlement for the
period 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2020.

(ii)Write to the Prime Minister and Chancellor seeking
additional UK Government funding to fund such pay settlement.

36(b) - Notice of Motion (ii)

Members considered a second
Notice of Motion in the following terms proposed by Councillor Carrie Harper
and seconded by Councillor Marc Jones:

“The Council call on the UK
Government to pause the roll out of Universal Credit in order to address the
substantial concerns expressed by charities, the third sector and others about
its implementation”

The Leader advised that he
agreed with the sentiment behind the motion and proposed an amendment, which was
seconded by the Deputy Leader, in the following terms:

“That Council note the UK
Government’s intention to roll out Universal Credit despite the substantial
concerns expressed by charities, the third sector and others about its
implementation.But given that the
Wrexham Job Centre went live as a “full service” site from 4 October 2017, the
Council should continue to work closely with the Department for Work and
Pensions locally to mitigate the impact upon customers and provide the
necessary support as and when required”.

The amendment was voted upon
and subsequently carried.

RESOLVED – That Council note the UK Government’s
intention to roll out Universal Credit despite the substantial concerns
expressed by charities, the third sector and others about its
implementation.But given that the
Wrexham Job Centre went live as a “full service” site from 4 October 2017, the
Council should continue to work closely with the Department for Work and
Pensions locally to mitigate the impact upon customers and ... view the full minutes text for item 36.

The Lead Member for
Organisation – Finance, Performance, Health and Safety and Governance submitted
a report (HF/134/17) allowing Council to approve a Council Tax Reduction Scheme
to commence in April 2018, for the 2018/19 Financial Year.

RESOLVED:

(i)The making of the Council
Tax Reduction Scheme and Prescribed Requirements (Wales) Regulations ("the
Prescribed Requirements Regulations") by the Welsh Assembly on 27 November
2013 be noted.

(ii)The outcome of the consultation
exercise undertaken by the

Council on its local
discretions in its Council Tax Reduction

Scheme (section 5) be
noted.

(iii)The Council Tax Reduction
Scheme and Prescribed

Requirements (Wales)
Regulations 2013, as the Council’s

Scheme for the Financial Year
2018/19, subject to the local

discretions that the Council
is able to exercise as set out in

paragraph 6.1 of the report,
be adopted;

(iv)To delegate to the Head of
Finance (in consultation with the

Leader) authority to
consider, approve and/or deal with as

necessary any amendments
which may be made to the

“Amendment regulations”
following consideration by the

National Assembly for Wales
when these regulations are laid &

approved by Welsh Government.

REASONS FOR DECISION

(i)The Council is obliged to approve a Council Tax Reduction Scheme for
2018/19 under the Prescribed Requirements Regulations by 31 January 2018.

(ii)Due to the timing of the spending Review, it is likely that the uprating
regulations for Benefits, will not be laid until late December at the earliest,
and therefore will not be debated by the National Assembly for Wales until
January 2018, as a result it will mean that the amendment regulations will not
be approved by the Assembly until late January 2018.

The Lead Member for
Organisation – Finance, Performance, Health and Safety and Governance submitted
a report (HF/124/17) seeking approval for a revision to Minimum Revenue
Provision (MRP) Policy for 2017/18.

During the discussion officers confirmed that the
proposals in the report had been shared with Wales Audit Office and external
advisors.The Wales Audit Office would
be carrying out an audit in summer 2018 and no official response would be
received before then.The Head of
Finance confirmed that he did not anticipate any issues or concerns from WAO.

RESOLVED

(i)That the revisions to the
MRP Policy for 2017/18 be approved:

a)Option 3 (Asset Life Method- straight line) to be used for calculating
MRP on outstanding supported borrowing as at 31 March 2017.The calculation will be ‘the straight line’
method over 40 years.This represents a
change from Option 2 (CFR method) as approved by Council on 22 February 2017.

b)Option 3 (Asset Life Method – straight line) to be used for calculating
MRP on supported borrowing incurred on or after 1 April 2017. The calculation
will be the ‘straight line’ method over an appropriate number of years,
dependent on the period of time that the capital expenditure is likely to generate
benefits.This also represents a change
from Option 2.

REASONS FOR DECISION

To enable the Council to
make a prudent provision for the repayment of debt.

The Lead Member for
Organisation – Finance, Performance, Health and Safety and Governance submitted
a report (HF/130/17) informing Members of the Council’s current budgetary
position following six months of the 2017/18 financial year.

During the debate, the
following points were noted, in particular:

·There had been an
unprecedented increase in Looked After Childrenbetween January and September of last year.This national trend, and particularly the requirement
for a number of specialist placements had led to a projected overspend within the Children’s Social Care
department..

·Members had been informed of the projected overspend once related costs
for the placements had been subject to the usual calculation and challenge by
officers.

·Concern that the pressure on the Children’s Social Care
department was likely to continue as the number of Looked After Children and
the need for specialists placements increased.A Member suggested that the sudden and national decline in preventative
services was a contributing factor.

RESOLVED – That 2017/18
revenue budget position be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION

To
ensure robust budget monitoring arrangements for the financial year and that action
is taken to address areas of overspend

42.

Appointment of Chief Executive

To consider the report of the
Lead Member for Organisation – Finance, Performance, Health & Safety and
Governance (To follow).